Slicing attachment for bread wrapping machines



Aug. 13, 1935. 1.. FERENCI 2,011,043

SLICING ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD WRAPPING MACHINES Original Filed April 29,1931- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 FIG.| 3

3 x j. 54 E30 \jj/ d T I 3 JNMENTOR 13 m 53 I M #19, ATTORNEY Aug. 13,1935.

1.. FERENCI SLICING ATTACHMENT FOR BREAD WRAPPING MACHINES OriginalFiled April 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY w wwc without anadditional conveyor.

Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITED STATES SLICING ATTACHMENT FOR BREADWRAPPING MACHINES Lester Ferenci, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to AmericanMachine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application April29, 1931, Serial No. 533,829 Renewed December 28, 1933,

15 Claims.

This invention relates to a self-contained loaf slicing attachment for.bread wrapping machines, its main object being to incorporate a, slicingdevice for cutting a loaf of bread into individual slices in a breadwrapping machine in such a manner that the loaf is sliced while it isbeing fed to the folding mechanism of the machine,

As this invention is a self-contained slicer, it may, when slidablymounted in a wrapping machine, easily be removed and also be usedseparately if desired.

Another object of the present invention is to make the construction ofthe slicing attachment of such compactness and simplicity that it ispossible to obtain higher slicing speeds than were possible heretofore.For this purpose, an individual electric motor is employed for drivingthe slicing means, the former being equipped with a shaft extending fromboth of its ends, each end carrying an eccentric connected to anoscillating slicer frame carrying a plurality of vertically mountedknives or saw blades. The eccentrics of the two slicer frames areopposite each other so that when one eccentric ascends the otherdescends, thereby transmitting opposite oscillating motions to theslicer frames and their attached saw blades, the armature of the motorexerting a flywheel effect on these motions. The

saw blades are mounted so as to be always under longitudinal tension andeach blade is provided with an additional hole permitting its separateremoval for replacement by a single quick opertion by means of a specialtool designed for this purpose. With these and other objects notspecifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certainconstructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully describedand then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

The loaf to be sliced is placed on a cutting table forming a part of theattachment and pushed through the oscillating blades by a pusher armforming a part of the bread wrapping machine. A top guide plate alsoforming a part of the attachment prevents the loaf from moving up orfrom rolling over during the slicing operation.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification andin which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. l is an end elevation of the slicing attachment showing onearrangement for driving the slicer frames, two eccentrics being used foreach frame;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the upper end of one of the slicerframes, showing the manner of removing the blades for replacement;

Fig.4 is a similar view of the other slicer frame 5 showing the mannerof inserting a new blade;

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken on line 8-4 of Fig. 3

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the tool used to remove the blades fromthe slicer frames; 19

Fig. '7 is a front end elevation, partly in cross section, showing amodified form of slicing attachment as seen from the loaf entering side;

Fig. 8 is a sectional side elevation of the same; and a Fig. 9 is apartial plan view of the same.

In carrying the invention into effect there is provided a slotted table,knife blades disposed in said slots, a frame carrying said knives, amotor,

and an eccentric mounted on the shaft of said 20 the particular deviceselected to illustrate the in- 30 vention is but one of many possibleconcrete embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to berestricted to the specific construction shown and described.

The slicing attachment is self-contained, that is, it has an independentdrive instead of being driven from the drive shaft of the bread wrappingmachine, and it may be removed from the bread wrapping machine and usedseparately if desired.

frame l0 supports a motor ll having shaft extensions i2, i3 on which aremounted eccentrics having eccentric rods 52 driving the slicer frame i8,and eccentric rods 53 driving the slicer frame 25. In this arrangementof the drive for the slicer frames it will be observed that each slicerframe is driven by two eccentrics connected to opposite ends of theframe.

Referring to Figs, 7 to 9, which .show a modi- 5 fied arrangement fordriving the slicer frames,-

the frame It has attached to its bottom the motor Ii having shaftextensions l2 and I! on which are mounted eccentrics carrying eccentricrods I4 and I5 balanced by counterweights it 40 Referring to Figs. 1 and2 of the drawings, the

. slice with respect and IT. The eccentric rod I4 is pivoted to thelower right hand end of the rectangular slicer frame I 8 by means of abar [9 having a nut threaded thereon which also holds eccentric l4 andframe IE to a guide lever 20 mounted on a shaft 2| supported in bearingsof frame Ill. The lowerleft hand side of frame I8 is pivoted to a guidelever 22 also mounted on shaft 2|. The upper ends of frame [8 arepivoted to swing levers 23 which are loosely mounted on a shaft 24carried in bearing brackets of supporting frame I0.

Eccentric rod I5 is pivoted to the lower left hand side of a secondslicer frame 25 by means of a bolt 26 which also holds eccentric rod [5and frame 25 to a guide lever 21 mounted on a shaft 28 supported inbearings of supporting frame Ill. The right hand side of frame 25 ispivoted in a guide lever (not shown), mounted on shaft 28. Theupper endsof frame 25 are pivoted to swing levers 29 loosely mounted on red24carried by the frame l0.

Both slicer frames l8and 25 are equipped at their upper ends with bladesupporting lugs 30 and carry at their lower ends tension levers 3| witheach of which engages a tension spring 32 fastened to the respectiveframe. Knife or saw blades 33 having pins 34 and 35 are placed intotheframes l8 and 25, the upper pins 34 resting in grooves of thesupporting lugs 30 while the lower pins 35 engage with grooves in thetension levers 3| so that each blade has the proper permanentlongitudinal tension.

Above their upper pins, the saw blades 33 are provided with a hole 36 bywhich it is possible to insert or remove the blades in an easy andconvenient manner by means of a special tool, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and5, consisting of a sickle- .shaped lever having a sidewardly projectingpin at its working end. For the removal of a blade from either frame,the end of tool 31 is placed with its convex side on top of the slicerframe and. with its pin 38 in engagement with the hole 36 of blade 33,as shown in Fig. 3, when movement of lever 31 in the direction of thearrow lifts pin 34 out of lug 30 and pushes blade 33 outward at the sametime, thus unlocking it from its slicer frame,v

To insert a new blade, the curved end of the tool 31, with the new blade33 suspended from the pin 38 thereof, upon hooking the lower pin of theblade into the groove of its tension lever, is placed with the concaveside upon the slice frame, as shown in Fig. 4, when movement of lever 31in the direction of the arrow lifts the blade and draws it inwardso thatits upper pin 34 engages with the groove of lug 30 upon releasing thetool.

The loaves L are advanced on a cutting table 39 by suitable pushingmeans, not shown, which forms a part of the machine to which thisattachment is applied. The cutting table 39 is provided with slots forthe moving saw blades 33 and supported by a rod 40 and a. bar 4|, bothmounted on the frame Ill. The construction of the slicer frames l8 and25 permits the close approach of the two sets of blades which avoids thetendency to rotate the loaf about its longitudinal axis when theoppositely moving sets of blades are spaced sufficiently to engage theloaf behind and in front of its longitudinal axis during its passagethrough the blades. The blades on one frame are staggered the thicknessof one to blades on the other frame and the blades on each frame arespaced the thickness of two slices. With this arrangement,

the advantage is gained that the side pressure of the blades in each setcaused by compression of the slices due to the thickness of theblades,'is sustained by the thickness of two slices of bread, thuseliminating crooked or uneven cuts. Another advantage of thisarrangement is that the friction of the knives in the loaf and,therefore, the power consumption is greatly decreased. This may beexplained as due to the diminished compression of the slices.

The frame In is provided with an adjustable top guide plate 42 whichserves the purpose of holding the loaf to the cutting plate 39 in orderto prevent any vertical movement of the loaf L while passing through theslicer. The plate 42 is mounted by means of two bearing brackets 43 t0the vertical slidable rods 44, which on their lower ends have racks 45engaging with gears 46 mounted on a shaft 41 slidably supported in theend walls of main frame In. To one end of shaft 41 is mounted a knob 48provided with a ratchet ring 49 engaging with a stationary pawl pin 50mounted in the end wall of frame 10, a tension spring 5| assuringengagement between ratchet ring 49 and pin 50. When the top guide plate42 is to be raised or lowered, knob 43 is pulled out of engagement withpin 50 and is turned to one side or the other, thereby correspondinglyturning shaft 41 and gears 46, thus raising or lowering rods 44. In caseof the arrival of a higher loaf than that for which the plate 42 wasset, the loaf automatically lifts the plate which follows by virtue ofratchet ring 49 and spring 5|; but lowering of the plate can only beaccomplished by hand operation.

With respect to the form shown in Figs. 1-6 it should be noted that inorder to reduce vibration and thus make possible greater speed andoutput, the two frames 18 and 25 are oppositely reciprocated so thatthey counterbalance each other. For the same reason oppositely disposedeccentrics He and l3b at one end of the combined motor armature shaftand drive shaft and similarly arranged eccentrics at the opposite end oftheqshaft are connected to each side of the frames as shown. While theeccentrics at one end are substantially opposite their centers I30 andl3d vary from diametric opposition by an angle approximately equal tothe angle between the diverging eccentric rods 52 and 53 equal, in theembodiment illustrated, to 19. This is done in order that the one frameshall start down at the exact moment that the other frame starts up asinstead of 19 after as would be the case if the diverging direction ofthrust of the eccen tric rods were not takeninto account. Thus thereciprocating movements of the frames and con- .necting rods to eachframe are equal and opposite and coincident as to time, producing theconditions most favorable to eliminating vibration. Driving each framefrom both sides also decreases torsional stresses on the frame and makespossible lighter frames.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 7 to 9, the slicer frames l8 and 25are driven by a single eccentric on one side of each slicer frame. InFigs. 1 and 2 the preferred arrangement is shown wherein an eccentric isemployed on each side of each frame, the latter construction being preferable for long slicing frames or when a high cutting speed is desiredas in this case both ends of each frame are supported and thus an evenmotion is secured, eliminating vibration. In the arrangement of Figs. 1and 2, the slicer frame 75' I! is driven by two eccentric rods 52, oneat each end l2, II .of the motor shaft, and slicer frame 25 is driven bytwo eccentric rods 53 mounted at opposite ends of the motor shaft, eachtwo eccentric rods at the same end of the shaft being balanced by acommon counterweight 54.

The frame 10 has outwardly extending lugs 5s attached thereto over alayer oig'esilient material 58. The lugs is are mounted on supports 6|which form a part of a bread wrapping machine, thereby supporting theattachment in position to slice the loaves as they are forwarded to thewrapping mechanism .of the machine.

In view of the foregoing, a detailed description of the operation of thedevice is deemed unnecessary and accordingly omitted in the interest ofbrevity.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machines,comprising a slotted table, knife blades disposed in said slots, a framecarrying said knives, a motor, an eccentric mounted on the shaft of saidmotor and connected to said frame, and a device for pressing theloavesagainst said table, said deviceincluding a top guide plate above saidtable, vertical rods connected to said plate and having racks formed ontheir lower ends, gears engaging said racks, a shaft carrying saidgears, and means for preventing rotation of "said gear shaft in onedirection and permitting said shaft to rotate in the other directionwhen said plate is engaged and raised by a loaf of greater height thanthe height of said plate from said table.

2. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machinescomprising a frame,

' knife blades carried by said frame, a motor, and

an eccentric mounted on the shaft of said motor and connected to saidframe, said frame having a plurality of grooved lugs and grooved tensionlevers, and said knives having pins on their upper and lower endsmounted in the grooves of said lugs and levers respectively.

3. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machinescomprising a frame having a plurality of grooved lugs and groovedtension levers, and knife blades having pins on their upper and lowerends mounted in the grooves of said lugs and tension leversrespectively.

4. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machinescomprising a table, and a device for pressing loaves of bread againstsaid table, said device including a top guide plate above said table,vertical rods connected to said plate and having racks formed on theirlower ends, gears engaging said racks, a shaft carrying said gears, andmeans for preventing rotation of said shaft in one direction only.

5. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machinescomprising a table, and

a device for pressing loaves of bread against said table, said deviceincluding a top guide plate above said table, rods connected to saidplate and having racks formed thereon, gears'engaging said racks, aslidable shaft carrying said gears, a knob fixed to said shaft andhaving a ratchet ring thereon, a stationary pin, and a spring on saidshaft urging said ratchet ring into engagement with said pin. Z

6. In a slicing machine, the combination with a pair of spaced movableknife carrying frames,

of a drive shaft having substantially opposed eccentrics thereon,diverging connecting rods between said eccentrics and said spacedframes, one

of said eccentrics being displaced from a position diametricallyopposite the other by an angle approximately equal to that between thediverging connecting rods to minimize vibration effects.

7. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for 'bread wrappingmachines, comprising a slotted table, slicing knives disposed in saidslots, a frame carrying said knives, a motor, an eccentric mounted onthe shaft of said motor and connected to said frame, and a device forpressing the loaves against said table, said frame carrying a pluralityof grooved lugs at its upper end and a plurality of grooved tensionlevers at its lower end, and said knives being provided with pins attheir upper and lower ends disposed in the grooves of said lugs andlevers and also being provided with holes at their upper ends forreceiving a pin on a suitable tool for removing the blades from saidframe against the tension of said tension levers.

8. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrapping machines,comprising a pair of spaced frames, knife blades mounted on each of saidframes, a motor, a pair of substantially opposed eccentrics on the shaftof said motor, and

diverging connecting rods between said eccentrics.

and said spaced frames, one of said eccentrics being displaced from aposition diametrically oppositethe other eccentric by an angleapproximately equal to that between the diverging con necting rods tominimize vibration, and the blades on one frame being staggered thethickness of one slice with respect to the 'blades on the opposite theother eccentric of the pair by an angle approximately equal to thatbetween the diverging connecting rods to minimize vibration, and theblades on one frame being staggered the thickness of one slice withrespect to the blade on the other frame.

10. A self-contained loaf slicing attachment for bread wrappingmachines, comprising a stationary frame, a pair of oscillating knifeframes, swing levers supporting said knife frames from said stationaryframe, knife blades carried by said knife frames, a motor carried bysaid stationary frame, a pair of substantially opposed eccentricsmounted on the shaft of said motor, and diverging connecting rodsconnecting said eccentrics to said frame, one of said eccentrics beingsubstantially displaced from a position diametrically opposite the othereccentric by an angle approximately equal to that between the divergingconnecting rods to minimize vibration. 11. In a bread slicing machine, aslicer frame having a plurality of knife supports at each end positionto the lower side of said main frame and having a shaft projectingbeyond both ends of said motor,.a pair of slicer frames, means securedto the upper side of said main frame for mounting said slicer frames foroscillatory movement, oppositely positioned eccentrics on the projectingends of said motor shaft, and rods connecting said eccentrics with saidslicer frames.

13. A self contained slicing unit comprising a main frame, an electricmotor secured in pendent position to the lower side of said main frameand having a shaft projecting beyond both ends of said motor, a pair ofslicer frames, means secured to the upper side of said main frame formounting said slicer frames for oscillatory movement, oppositelypositioned eccentrics on the projecting ends of said motor shaft, rodsconnecting said eccentrics with said slicer frames, and adjustablemeansfor guiding loaves to said slicer frames.

14. The combination with e; pair of slicer frames, of means for mountingsaid ice for to and fro movement, an electric motor having sshaftprojecting beyond both of its ends, oppositely positioned eccentrics onthe projecting ends of said motor shaft, and rods connecting saideccentrics with said slicer frames.

15. The combination with a pair of slicer frames of means for mountingsaid fesfor movement to and fro. an electric motor having a shaftprojecting beyond both of its ends, and pairs of oppositely positionedeccentric members mounted on each of the projecting ends oi said motorshaft and connected with said slicer frames to oppositely move thelatter.

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